The Iliad

Reviewed by: Mary Lehmer - Freeport Community Library, Freeport, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 10, 2015

Review

This is a retelling of The Iliad for younger readers. The book is filled with striking illustrations of the battle. Most of these really fit the situation being described and are often quite beautiful. But a few seemed better suited to older readers that would understand the imagery behind them. Author Gillian does a great job of making the story easy to follow. She opens with what caused the Greeks and Trojans to go to war with each other then moves into the battle itself. Most of the book is spent on the war between the two and the influence that a variety of the Greek gods had over the warriors. It was disappointing however, that in the over 151 pages of the text, only 2 of them were spent on the wooden horse that finally destroyed the Trojans. Still, this is a good choice for young readers interested in reading The Iliad.

Overall Book Score: very good